Walther von der Vogelweide

VOGELWEIDE, Walther von der. b. ca. 1170; d. ca. 1228. Little is known of his life: the one reference to him is from the records of Bishop Wolfger of Passau, ‘Walthero cantori de Vogelweide pro pellicio v solidos longos’ (‘to Walter of Vogelweide the singer, five shillings for a fur coat’). He was probably born in Austria or the Sudtirol (there is a statue of him in the principal square of Bolzano; the Sud-Tyrol claims him as a native son). He probably lived in Würzburg during his final years, and is thought to have been buried there: the grave has disappeared, but there is a monument on the site, and a story that he directed that the birds should be fed there daily. His life was spent as a...